Three Fires Traditional Pow Wow
several pics by oldbrushes
The three Indian tribes most commonly associated with Michigan are the Ojibwa (Chippewa), the Odawa (Ottawa) and the Potawatomi. Closely related in language and culture, these three tribes interacted with each other like members of a family. The Odawa and Potawatomi called the Ojibwa "older brothers." The Odawa were next born and the Potawatomi were the "younger brothers." Together, these three tribes formed the Three Fires Confederacy, a loose knit alliance that promoted their mutual interests.
The French called the older brothers of the Three Fires the Ojibwa. Translated, this means "to roast 'til puckered up," describing the unique style of moccasin these people wore. The Ojibwa, a tribe of approximately thirty thousand people, lived along the southern shore of Lake Superior. They maintained a large fishing village at the rapids of the St. Mary's River (present-day Sault Ste. Marie) and were renowned hunters and fishermen.
The Odawa, a name that means, "to trade," were skillful intertribal traders. The Odawa also excelled in making bark canoes, which enabled them to trade all over North America. In 1650 the Iroquois pushed the Odawa from Canada to the Straits of Mackinac. They gradually settled along the shores of Lake Michigan in the Lower Peninsula. When the French arrived in the Great Lakes the Odawa had approximately three thousand people.
The Potawatomi, whose four thousand members lived in southern Wisconsin when the Europeans arrived, moved around the southern tip of Lake Michigan and settled in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan in the early seventeenth century. Called "the people of the place of the fire," the Potawatomi are considered among Michigan's earliest farmers. The temperate regions of southern Michigan allowed the Potawatomi to produce squash, corn, melons, beans and even tobacco. As a result, their villages were larger and more permanent than those of the Ojibwa and Odawa.
Related Links
People of the Three Fires Native Geneology (US Genweb) TONS of information including this great map of Michigan counties that have (or had) native villages.
The Three Fires of Michigan (includes much of this article plus information on native foods & dwellings)
CONFEDERACY OF THREE FIRES: A History of the Anishinabek Nation
Wikipedia: Council of the Three Fires (needs to be fleshed out!)
For more great stories on Michigan’s past, look to Michigan History magazine. For more information or a free trial issue, call (800) 366-3703 or visit www.michiganhistorymagazine.com.
9 Comments
in solcial studies we are learning about this i think
its the coolest thing that happend in michigan ever.
i learned that the potawatomi and the ojibiwa became
friends and familys it was amazing!
I learned this in social studies The Three Fires are so amazing!
you need to do the three fires in 1540's gosh
you need to out the three fires in 1540's
A shame that so many millions of the natives in the great lakes are perished because of disease. Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun used bio-weapons and surely weren't the first. So when I realize the population of North America still has yet to be replenished to the 1600 level and that there were probably half a billion here at that time. They however, were very good with medicine and would pick up and move camp often enough so as not to breed disease. I think we should learn from them and live similarly, looking to natural organic foods and medicines like the Ojibwa Tea, Oregon Grapes, Cranberries, and diet of much clean fish. They are afflicted as are we these days by the antiandrogens (gender-bending chemicals) in the water, flouride which is toxic-waste, a byproduct of the aluminum industry, the death winds - perhaps the H.A.A.R.P., a weather-modification device used also for mind-control - watch: Aerosol Crimes which exposes the Global Warming MYTH and chem-trails which has a biological component, a fungus which appears to be GMO which like all GM foods, changes the chromosomes so the body's cells are 2-4% different than before one eats it. Chemtrails, unlike ordinary contrails linger all day and turns the blue-sky into a hazy mess. Now they're pushing the masses into crowded cities and introducing live viruses in the mandatory vaccines like swine-flu which is no longer being followed by the WHO but is being administered at schools and campuses globally even though it hasn't killed close to 1 tenth of a percent what the ordinary influenza kills each year in the U.S. Baxter has been indemnified in advance and patented the vaccine somehow a year before the initial outbreak. Check out INFOWARS.com
I implore you all to keep an open mind about the New World Order being the Beast System prophesied of for thousands of moons. We need to learn the old ways if we are to survive. May need to find a patch of secluded ground and live off the land. Learn to hunt with bows and arrows and fish with a string and a bone hook. Make little stream fed organic gardens using heritage seeds, and to gather herbs and such.
Shalom.
Feel free to contact me if you are sincerely interested in knowing more for the safety of you and your families.
- a fellow moccasin wearing of the three fires tribe.
cool school rocks!!!!!!
I LOVE THE THREE FIRERS IN SS I LERND ABOUT THEM
SS STANDS FOR SOUSEL STUDES
As an elementary art teacher I am interested in having my students experience authentic Native American dancers, drummers, and storytellers. How can I receive information about such and educational event for my school? Wayne County MI.
Thank You
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